An old fashioned, walnut wooden frame is handed out for inspection along with a steel blade. The blade is slid into the top of the frame and a wooden match is placed into the smaller of the two holes. The spectator is invited to place his/her finger through the larger of the two holes.

The performer thrusts the blade downward, "through the spectator's finger," but breaking the wooden match. The spectator's finger is unharmed!